Staff Writer
Ted King
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The Salina Public Works Authority held a special meeting Monday to prepare the groundwork for connecting to the Oklahoma Ordinance Water Authority in 2013.
The first item on the agenda was to file an application with the OWRB for financial assistance through the state revolving fund program.
Rick Smith of Municipal Financial Services presented a report about closing the existing town debt. Smith told the PWA that with town sales taxes around 10 percent, the town won’t support a sales tax hike.
Smith said the money to pay for the new water line to OOWA will have to come from utilities.
The average water and sewer bill for the town of Salina is $56 a month per customer. Salina has not raised sewer rates in four years and water rates in three. “As OOWA raises water rates, and you know they will, you are going to have to pass that on to the customer,” Smith said.
OOWA charges $1.34 per thousand gallons of water. It’s possible the rates could go as high as $1.50 per thousand gallons.
Council member Dennis Weston raised concerns about sales taxes because of the uncertainty of the economy.
Smith said if Salina hired him, he would work with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality for principle forgiveness but could not guarantee anything.
Smith would charge the town 1.75 percent of the loan amount as payment.
Town attorney Bill Gaddis raised objections to the clause in the contract with OOWA that states Salina will pay OOWA’s attorney fees. These and other possible stipulations will have to be worked out within 90 days between Salina and OOWA before the loan can go forward. The PWA hopes to begin construction on the water line in August, with completion by 2013.
The PWA passed the formal resolution to apply for the loan with the OWRB and to hire Smith to assist in obtaining the loan.
The next item on the agenda was to approve the revised engineering report for water system improvements.
Jay Updike and Stephen Tolar of Halloway, Updike and Bellen, Inc. told the PWA the water line to OOWA could be installed along town and county rights of way, taking away the need for a pumping station as the water will flow with gravity.
Updike said his firm will ask for voluntary easements from property owners.
The formal engineering report will likely be ready in April. A construction report will be needed by May 15 in order for the PWA to apply for grant money. A construction permit should be submitted in June and construction would proceed in August. After the town is connected with OOWA, the existing water treatment plant will need to be disconnected and the lagoons drained and leveled off.
Updike told the PWA the town could use PVC pipe at a cost ranging from $8 to $10 a foot for thicker pipe. The PVC pipe has a joint every 20 feet. The other alternative is polyethylene pipe at $13 a foot. Polyethylene pipe is jointless. The PWA approved the revised engineering report to be submitted to ODEQ.
The main reason Salina is being forced to disconnect its water treatment plant next to Lake Hudson is due to environmental standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency which objects to the levels of trihalomethanes (a byproduct of chlorine) in the town’s water supply. Salina has over 80 trihalomethanes (THMs) in parts per billion of water. According to the EPA: “EPA estimates drinking two liters of water containing 100 ppb (parts per billion) THMs every day for 70 years could result in three extra cases of cancer for every 10,000 people. Salina has a population of 1,396, according to the 2010 census.
